U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, an Illinois Democrat, was talking about lining up with two of her colleagues to grill sirloins at the Polk County Democrats’ steak fry.

So, instead of stationing Bustos and Reps. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tim Ryan of Ohio at separate grills, the cooks positioned the aproned House members side by side in front of the sizzling steaks.

All three Congress members, considered rising stars and potential presidential candidates, worked together on the stage as well. All three talked to Iowa Democrats about the need to unify to win back Congress from Republicans in 2018.

“I think we have to focus like a laser beam on an economic message that appeals to all regions of the country, all people in the country: urban, rural, black, white, brown, gay, straight, man, woman — the economic message is one that crosses over,” Ryan said.

All three delivered some zingers from the stage about President Trump and Republicans.

“He has made a bunch of empty promises to the Americans who have fallen on hard times,” Bustos said of Trump. “But think about this: Where are his results?”

Moulton also credited Trump with seeing the economic angst and anger that many Democrats missed. “But his solution is to send us back into the coal mines,” Moulton said. “To go back to this mythical vision of the country in 1955, when half of the restrooms and lunch counters in this nation were segregated by the color of your skin.”

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U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) puts on her glove as she and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) get ready to work the grill Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at the Polk County Steak Fry at Water Works Park in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)

Ryan said Democrats let working-class Americans down and lost them to Trump. “While I’m mad at Republicans, I’m just as mad at us for letting that happen. There’s no way that guy should be president of the United States. No way at all,” he said.

While making it clear they stood against everything Trump stands for, they didn’t rule out working with him. The Democratic leaders of the House and Senate announced a deal with Trump to extend the budget for three months to avoid a government shutdown and to raise the debt ceiling. They also have tried to hammer out an agreement to avoid deportation of DREAMers, or undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.

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U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) speaks Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017, at the Polk County Steak Fry at Water Works Park in Des Moines.(Photo: Michael Zamora/The Register)

“If we have this attitude that we’re never going to work to together — or this total resistance movement — we’re not going to move our country forward,” Bustos said. “I think people in this region want results, not resistance.”

Moulton agreed. “The problem is that we’re in a terrible position because we don’t have the majority in anything. So I give Leader (Nancy) Pelosi all the credit in the world for negotiating the best deal that she could,” he said. “But imagine how much better that deal would be if we were in the majority.”

All three Congress members brushed off questions about running for president. Ryan said it’s a distraction.

“We’ve got to stay focused. We have become so enamored with presidential elections that we have forgotten those off-year elections, where we need to build our party and win statehouse races and governor’s races,” he said.

Maybe it’s not as much of a distraction as Ryan imagines, though. As soon as Democrats running for Congress and for governor were finished speaking, much of the crowd of roughly 1,500 packed up their lawn chairs and headed for the exits.

Coincidentally, it was about the same time the Hawkeye football game was starting.